HOSPITALS IN RIGA/CHANGES MADE BY SOVIETS IN HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATIVE AND STAFF ORGANIZATION IN 1940-1941.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040422-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 422
• Publication Date: September 10, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/30: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040422-9
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL
Security Information
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPOR-f
COUNTRY USSR (_'.atvia)
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
DA-r% of
50X1-HUM
50X1-HUM
1. The First Municipal Hospi.tal is located at Sarkanas Armijas Street, No. 5. It
has a capacity of from eight hundred to cue thousand beds and is composed of
the following departments:
Two Surgical, two Medical, one Neurological, one Eye, one Nose and
Throat, one Dermatology and Venereal Disease, one Urology, one Obstetrics
and Gynecology and two Contagious Disease.
No research was pursued at this hospital except minor activity in Pathology.
Plant and equipment were average by US standards.
2. The Second tfianicipal Hospital, otherwise known as the University Hospital, is
located at Pilsonu Street, No. 7.5 and was composed of the following clinics:
Two Medical, one Neurological, one Obstetrics, one Gynecology and two
Surgical.
Its total bed capacity was about six hundred, but in an emergency, this could
be increased to eight-hundred. This was an exclusively university hospital.
All heads of departments had to be professors of Medicine. The plant; equipment,
and ;laboratories of this hospital were good by US standards as of 1944.
3. It is interesting to note the relative position of these two hospitals to each
other geographically. The First Municipal Hospital is on the north bank of the
Daugava liver, and the Second Municipal Hospital, on the south bank, directly
facing it. Tbe river, at this point,is about three-quarters of a mile wide and
traditionally the two hospitals have always been in direct contact with each
other via an underwater telephone cable. ?
4. The Any Hospital. had a capacity of four-hundred beds, but only a few of its
buildings were up-to-date. Its plant and equipment were fair by US standards.
NO. OF ENCLS.
l.ISTEO BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
Lod-'y ISr _Isieft- tXI 1 1. T T
DATE DISTR. /?11 SRP 5,1
Hospitals in Riga/Changes Made by Soviets NO. OF PAGES 2.
in Hospital. Administrative and Staff Organ-
ization in 1940-1941.
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 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/30: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040422-9
CONFIDENTIAL/US OFFICIALS ONLY/ SECURITY INFORMATION
The Fourth Municipal Hospital, also known as the Red Cross Hospital is located
on J Asara, Street. It had a capacity of 250 beds and was exclusively devoted
to surgery. Its equipment and plant were modern as of 1944 and good by US
standards.
6. The former Jewish hospital, probably now called the Sixth Municipal Hospital
is 'ocated in Latgales Street. It had a capacity of 120 beds, was mostly
devoted to surgery and was a relatively new hospital. It was built in 1941.
7. The former German Hospital is located in Miera Street. It had a capacity of
180 beds, was fairly good but definitely not modern.
8. The Children Hospital, located on Jelgavas highway on the south side of Riga,
was a modern three hundred oed hospital which offered complete pediatric ser-
vices. Its plant was good by US standards.
9. The Cancer Hospital is located on Barinu Street. It had a capacity of 120
beds and worked very closely with the University hospital. Its plant and
equipment were fairly good by US standards.
10. During the Germcn occupation of Latvia the administration of these hospitals
and their staffs remained unchanged. Duu?ing the period June 1940 to June 1941,
however, when the Soviets had control of Latvia, many changes were made. All
hospitals and medicine in general were placed under a Commissar for Health.
Hospital Worker?s Committees were organized, with members chosen from among
hospital employ-see who were sympathetic to, or at least not potentially the
enemies of, Communism. Since most medical doctors in Riga came from hated
bourgeois families, these' committees actually were dominated by the manual
workers of the hospitals plus a few fellow travelling physicians. The result
was chaotic, since the committees ran the hospitals and the power behind the
committees might be a janitor or gardener who enjoyed particular favor with
the Communist Party. Doctors, regardless of their political
affiliations and beliefs, were permitted to stay on because of the critical
shortage of trained medical men, but their activities were significantly
limited. lh the first place, their earnings were limited to a maxsmum of
1,00 rubles per working day, although it was possible to claim up to 800 rubles
if they could chow that they were holding down two jobs at a time. Secondly,
the doctor was given no choice an to where he might work. Assignments were
ordered by the Commissar of Health and there was no appeal from his decisions.
Thirdly, doctor-patient relationships became severely eta .fined. Doctors
learned to f+---r their most humble patient because if dissatisfied with the
services received he might lodge charges of bourgeois practice against the
doctors and thus cause them endless strife.
CWFIDENTIAL/US OFFICIALS ONLY//CURITT fl F0RMATIC9
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/06/30: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040422-9